Hamble River SC Wednesday Night B Series Race 5
Published 13:33 on 15 Aug 2014
The Aftermath of Perigee Lunar
Hamble River Sailing Club Wednesday night series continued last night after the Cowes Week Pursuit race last week. The stunning perigee lunar of last Sunday has left a legacy with exceptional spring tides and the water was ebbing with impressive speed as RO Jamie Wilkinson set up near Bald Head. The NW wind running parallel to the shore limited the marks available so the decision was taken the send the classes down tide with the worst of the ebb such that the beat back was against a reduced tide if not one already just on the flood in shore . The RO sent the classes down to William for the smaller classes and Royal Southern for the bigger classes with a return to Hamble Point to finish which saved many a navigators writing hand! With such a strong tide all classes were extremely line shy although Wight Hare (Derek Hand) in Class one definitively shut the door on La Nef (John Noe) at the start forcing La Nef back out and round again. For the first time this season there were a couple of late arrivals X150 Pepper (Gerry Golding) and Starfall (Adrian Hull) in the XOD fleet and Class 3 who gamely hit the start line running. Interestingly Polly (Meakins & Cudmore) in Class 2 was the only boat who fully hoisted her kite not just on but well before the start line and Cockleshell (Jonty Sherwill) got her kite stuck round the spreaders just as she started which delayed her hoist considerably.
The XOD fleet were considerably depleted post Cowes Week but Olly Love from Two Frank with no boat for the evening gamely stood in for Hamish Wilson on Mischief to helm X13 and just missed out on the chocolates. Swallow (Simon Russell) took pole position followed by It (John Butt) and Satu (Andy Hamlett) with Swallow and Satu joint leaders in the series at present . Cockleshell recovered from her slow start to steal the podium on corrected time by one second from Fritha (Bob Allen) and between these same two boats yet another class tie in the series to date. In true pro racing style the Forethought crew had jetted in from Greece to perform en route to Turkey and were rewarded with a 3rd for their troubles, (although their owner probably didn't reimburse their airfares!) .
In Class 2 Anne Louise (Peter Slimming) was nothing but consistent for this series with another bullet whilst Imptish (Barney Smith) just took second from Needlework (Patrick Pymm & Peter Smith) and there will be a big battle for both second and third places in this fleet which should start unfolding in the remaining weeks. The 1720 fleet bracketed the podium in Class 1 with Midnight Cowboy (Steph Merry) in first despite looking a little over stood on the final approach to the finish line and Wight Hare in third whilst La Nef (John Noe) tucked into second with the lovely Ariel in 4th.
Wednesday night racing is free and only available to members but all new comers are invited to come and try an evening for free. Those looking to crew do contact the office and it has been great to see a number of new crew who recently have joined the Club . Full details on the Hamble River SC website so come and break up the week with a dose of sea air each Wednesday evening until the clocks change. All new boats are invited to join the fleet back in the Clubhouse for supper afterwards and those members with boats who haven’t made it out on the water yet - get your friends together for a fun race.
Article Lis Robinson
Pictures Malcom Donald
Last updated 10:20 on 9 April 2025
